Originally posted by Biscuit:I think the spoiler is a definate need in order to carry speed through several of the faster corners. I was thinking they'd be similar but none of the straights are long enough to take advantage of a better top speed so aero it is.

I've been running with spoliers at Laguna from the start, and every time I cut back on the downforce I lose more time in the fast turns than I gain on the straights. I think overall, however, I tend to favor more aero just for the handling aspect.

Current best time is now 1:33.801, but everything went right on that lap. I'm still averaging low 1:34's on most laps. Aside from the corkscrew, turn 6 seems to be where I gain or lose the most time on my ghost. It becomes a matter of finding the right entry speed, getting back on the gas early, and using up all of the available track before the car straightens out.

I've also found I'm faster with a five gear setup, and I'm peaking 4th gear right at the top of the hill before braking for the corkscrew.

That corner that he cut is called "the corkscrew." Arguably the most famous corner in auto-sports. If you are watching this video with the intent of using that exact line you'll have to keep in mind that the Audi's we're driving don't have anywhere near the grip or handling that those F1 cars did so you'll have to take it a little easier.

Did Zanardi get any kind of penalty for that big off? I know nothing about real life racing. Seemed like he took a shortcut to me. Crazy mutha, for sure.

He didn't get penalized but that move was banned afterwards. I suppose the argument could go that he didnt cheat because the car stayed on the course since 2 wheels stayed on the curb.

Unimental, nice time. I got a 1:34.0 but i'm probably more like 1:35's average at the moment. Didn't have any time to practice tonight so i hope i get off work early tomorrow!

About five weeks. Group 1 is having race 7 of 10 this tuesday. Group 2 is having race 4 of 10 this thursday.

I think that after group 1 finishes and while we are waiting for group2 to finish we will run a short 3-week sprint race season. I'm thinking WTCC style with two 10-lap races per night at the same course. The second race starting grid is the reverse of the finishing order of the first race. That way we get 6 races in 3 weeks and a lot of excitement. We'll also carry over some sort of PI penalty system.

It should tide us over until group 2 finishes and we can organize the (un)Official ARS Forza 2 multi-class tournament showdown consisting of 16 drivers and 4 teams racing for glory!

Now that I've joined Group 2, I need a volunteer to gift my S4 to who will slap juanflaco's Ars paint scheme on it (and give it back).

I've noticed that there isn't much pre-race discussion amongst Group 2 members of setups and lap times. I would kick off the discussion on Sunset Infield, but my times from ~30 laps of testing on Sunday are horrifically bad. I played around with high grip/low HP vs. high HP/low grip setups, but consistently turned in lap times around 1:40. I'm having an especially hard time finding my line through turns 2-3, and usually end up hitting an early apex on turn 3 (whilst drifting and scrubbing).

I'll probably be on tonight, so if any Group 2 drivers are interested, we could do a practice session.

Originally posted by Juanflaco:A quick note on next week, I'm moving this Sunday and the nice man from Comcast is supposed to be out Monday morning to set up cable. If for some reason this goes south I might need a stand-in on Tuesday (I fear for the rest of the field, putting someone else in my 700PI slot!)

Dibs! (Provided nothing comes up on my end.)

You good to go? No threesomes coming up on your end? Ewwwwwwwww.

Moving truck is supposed to be good for delivery today but it's too close for comfort, even if it does come in this afternoon I'll have my hands full most of the evening, so I'll need to request a sub for tonight's Group 1 race.

If i remember right, enter 2-3 at about 70mph. I take a wide entry on 2 and try to maintain about 70mph into 3. Clip the inside apex while at full throttle and drift out to the left side. If you are lucky or skilled it is possible but not reccommended to take all of 2-3 in a 4-wheel drift, rally style.

You should be able to hold full throttle through 4-5 up until 6 which is very sharp indeed. I went with a speed setup. I think it is pretty tough to pass on the infield section so its better to have the speed to pass on the oval and then make it stick by making your car very very wide on the infield portion.

Originally posted by Juanflaco:A quick note on next week, I'm moving this Sunday and the nice man from Comcast is supposed to be out Monday morning to set up cable. If for some reason this goes south I might need a stand-in on Tuesday (I fear for the rest of the field, putting someone else in my 700PI slot!)

Dibs! (Provided nothing comes up on my end.)

You good to go? No threesomes coming up on your end? Ewwwwwwwww.

Moving truck is supposed to be good for delivery today but it's too close for comfort, even if it does come in this afternoon I'll have my hands full most of the evening, so I'll need to request a sub for tonight's Group 1 race.

SixthChameleon,I just gave you a car with the design on it. It looks like we are on the same team so all you have to do is put your name and number on it, keep the car I have more.

On race prep, I had an RX-7 with a 137.high lap time that I just could not best. It had bad lines and a couple of offs and i followed it into every one of them, so i grabbed a stock S4 and tried to best my C class time. Four or five laps later i hit a 142.231, not bad, got me in the top 3500. I practiced with that ghost for a while and decided why not just improve the weak points of this. First it was slow, i added power. Next it was sliding in the corners, kumho street tires full width fixed that. Then it needed a lower gear to make top speed on the straight. Then it wouldn't stop after the straight, racing brakes to the rescue. Now it does a 137.751 and i beat my old ghost and have a line I can try to improve upon.

The only variant there is I sometimes go with the sport tranny instead of the racing tranny. Unless you're being hit with some very stiff PI penalties those should basically always be part of the car IMO.

I need a decent ghost to follow and that sounds like a pretty methodical route to good technique and a good race configuration... rather than build a car to the PI limit and a blind configuration, start with a dead stock car, get the line down, and add parts to correct inadequacies qualitatively. Start slow and work your way to speed, with the exception of the upgrades mentioned by Biscuit. Usually, for the first couple of laps in a new car, I turn on the braking line, but find the line a hindrance as in some areas of the track it's decidedly suboptimal. I have a tendency to repeat mistakes frequently, even when I've identified them.

Despite all the very generous help from folks here....turn 6 on Sunset has me vexed. It affects my laptimes more than anything else. As it is now I'm unable to break 1:39.ish and catch my 2000 Audi S4 ghost who nukes me on the big straight after I've beat it all the rest of the way around the track.

Hey guys I'm having issues with my 360 locking up.My wife said it locked up on here this morning while playing Hex and the front light went red.It's still booting up but you can't do anything for more than few minutes before the bottom half of the screen gets a checkerboard effect and it locks up again.It's in a nice cool spot so I dunno what the problem is.

I have the replacement plan form Best Buy but can't get over there until the weekend.Is there any way I can try and see if it will stay running long enough to gift my car to somebody so at least thats saved?

Originally posted by Syn:Hey guys I'm having issues with my 360 locking up.My wife said it locked up on here this morning while playing Hex and the front light went red.It's still booting up but you can't do anything for more than few minutes before the bottom half of the screen gets a checkerboard effect and it locks up again.It's in a nice cool spot so I dunno what the problem is.

I have the replacement plan form Best Buy but can't get over there until the weekend.Is there any way I can try and see if it will stay running long enough to gift my car to somebody so at least thats saved?

Sorry about the issues, man. Best Buy let me swap hard drives when my first unit went belly-up, and it worked without a hitch (saved games and content still accessible). One caveat, though... any Xbox Live arcade titles you've downloaded will not play unless you're connected to Xbox Live following a hard drive swap. I'm always connected when I play, so it's a non-issue for me.

Looks like I'll need a sub for the rest of the season, my 360 just red ringed. Sorry guys. I had it feeling it was going to happen, when I turned it on right before joining it made this knocking noise.

Originally posted by TangoUniform71:Looks like I'll need a sub for the rest of the season, my 360 just red ringed. Sorry guys. I had it feeling it was going to happen, when I turned it on right before joining it made this knocking noise.

Well, we ended up with four regulars and ThCaptain jumped in to make a fifth. I ended up behind Karmakaze after the start and couldn't get a pass together. He was hauling and not committing errors, and then I somehow received just a few percent damage while downshifting. Combined with some significant front aero damage from two slight collisions, I knew it was going to come down to a desperate strategy.

I wasn't going to pit.

Keep in mind that I had thought this through before the race based on fuel usage in eight lap races, and apparently so did Basalt. He wasn't able to attempt it, however, as he picked up some damage and had to pit for repairs.

Lap 12, Karma pits.

Lap 13, Jdoo pits.

Then I'm grinning a bit, confident that I can bring the car home a winner even with slightly slower lap times. Pitting costs about 25 seconds, and I rolled in with a comfortable 22 second lead for the win.

We had some awesome, scary, tight three car racing for about 10 laps, and I'll get some pictures up for tomorrow night.

Group 2... be forewarned that one tank of fuel will get you around Laguna Seca. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint) that's the only track on the schedule that this strategy will work for.

Damn, sorry guys. I just saw the message jdoo sent me about an hour and a half ago looking for a sub. I was watching MacGyver (!!!) but had it paused while helping a friend do math homework...I would have rather been racing. Sorry to miss the sub opportunity you guys.

First - Group 1 will delay race 8 one week to allow for tango and viralspace to figure out their RROD situation. Hopefully both can have replacement 360's in 2 weeks time. WTF is wrong with Microsoft. Seriously.

Big happenings in the championship tournament! Unimental's shrewd pit strategy (read: dont pit) snagged him first for the race. We were neck and neck when I decided to pit around lap 13. I can't say I would have hung onto the lead for 12 more laps if I hadn't pitted, but my pitting definitely lost the race for me. Luckily I somehow managed to pull off fast lap of the race. As a result, unimental and I are now tied going into round 8 of the tournament at Road Atlanta. Based on our 1-2 finish this time, I'm pretty much guaranteed that sweet 600PI ride for the rest of the season.

Basalt looks to be out of the running for the top spot after his 5th place finish tonight. It looks like he'll have a substantial PI advantage over unimental and I for the rest of the season though, so second place may not be out of reach.

Karmakaze sent hateful thoughts out late last night and somehow managed to make both of his main competitors xbox's RROD before the race. That MSFT voodoo doll is working man. Keep at it and you may be able to surpass Basalt as well

Juanflaco; unfortunate for you to miss the race tonight and for us to not be able to find a sub. If someone had sat in your car and made it the 25 laps you would have come away with a championship point.

During the race itself Karmakaze pulled out to an early lead with unimental securing second. I somehow clawed my way up to third place. The next 8 or 9 laps were an epic battle between unimental, karmakaze, and I. There wasn't much if any passing, but the racing was tight and laguna seca is treacherous. There were 2 spots where I braked just a little too late and had to swerve off to avoid a major wreck. On the first one I lightly bumped karmakze going into the hairpin at turn 2. The second one happened coming up to the corkscrew. He braked a little early and I slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid. My car didnt have enough room though and I flew by him on the inside kind of pushing him off into the dirt. I'll call the move the "sloppy zanardi". In any event, I gave the position back. Unimental and I swapped spots twice as he passed me on my mistake, and I took it back on his mistake on the last turn of the course. Considering that he had no power upgrades, that was the optimal spot for me to have him make a mistake. I made it out front and was in first until I gave away the victory by pitting.

Good race everyone; RROD disapointments notwithstanding

Just to re-iterate, group 1 will delay round 8 for a week. The next group 1 race will be on Tuesday, September 4.

Originally posted by 10k:This weeks race was eventful on and off the track...

First - Group 1 will delay race 8 one week to allow for tango and viralspace to figure out their RROD situation. Hopefully both can have replacement 360's in 2 weeks time. WTF is wrong with Microsoft. Seriously.

Thanks, I really appreciate that. I will be calling Microsoft this morning and hopefully I can get my coffin by the end of this week or early next week.

Originally posted by karmakaze:So, I took a bunch of pics last night after the race, but the forza page only shows the last five. Anyone know how to get the others, or do I need to save these off and reupload the first batch?

The Forza site only maintains access to the last five uploads, so save 'em, then go into "view photos" within Forza 2 (it's in the panel with the replay theater option) and you can bring up the older pics in-game, then choose upload from the on-screen menu. Any picture saved on your HD can be re-uploaded to the Forza site, no matter how old.

Originally posted by 10k:This weeks race was eventful on and off the track...

First - Group 1 will delay race 8 one week to allow for tango and viralspace to figure out their RROD situation. Hopefully both can have replacement 360's in 2 weeks time. WTF is wrong with Microsoft. Seriously.

Sounds like a good race

It took approximately 3 weeks from the day it was shipped off to the day it returned to get my RROD 360 replaced back in may. In fairness, they *replaced* the xbox entirely, repairs might be faster. I've heard 2 weeks from most other people that have gone through.. so fingers crossed.

The extra week will hopefully be enough time to get folks back up and running, and if not, at least be ready for Week 9 at The Ring.

In the meantime, I'll be playing the shit out of Bioshock and secretly hoping my 360 dies so that I've got a replacement before running Atlanta. It's been quite wonky over the past few weeks (freezing, chunky drive sounds). It's unit number two for me already. Thankfully the Best Buy replacement plan makes it a bit less painful.

I wouldn't be able to handle the pain of getting the RRoD on the friggin' starting line, a la Tango.

I wouldn't be able to handle the pain of getting the RRoD on the friggin' starting line, a la Tango.

I had a bad feeling when tango's car started rolling backwards on the grid before the race started. I think my 360's DVD drive may be dying since when I insert a disc it will just immediately eject it. Sometimes it can take like 20 tries for the DVD drive to stay closed. The extra special bonus is that if the DVD drive dies it isnt an RROD failure covered by the new 3yr warranty and im SOL.

Anyway I'm going to play bioshock this week but will start to focus on Road Atlanta this weekend. Maybe we can run a few races for the ARS Nissan Sentra challenge there this weekend.

My next big problems are the final two turns before the bank and controlling my wreckless tendancy to drift around the tires at the end of the start-finish straight.

Slow down quite a bit on the first of two. You need to get over to the left and have the car settled in time so that you can turn in and hit the bank at full throttle. You should come up onto the bank at about 91-93mph.

On turn 1 i start at the very very left side, slightly lift and turn in. This one really depends on your setup. If you dont have that much grip you are going to have to be pretty good at the braking. A higher grip setup can more or less take the turn at about 150 without braking at all.

Originally posted by 10k:Slow down quite a bit on the first of two. You need to get over to the left and have the car settled in time so that you can turn in and hit the bank at full throttle. You should come up onto the bank at about 91-93mph.

On turn 1 i start at the very very left side, slightly lift and turn in. This one really depends on your setup. If you dont have that much grip you are going to have to be pretty good at the braking. A higher grip setup can more or less take the turn at about 150 without braking at all.